** Hot News **
SAP withdraws PowerBuilder 15!
In a surprise move this week, SAP cancelled the much anticipated PowerBuilder 15 release and released instead PowerBuilder version 12.6. The product announcement was made by PB product manager Sue Dunnell on the SAP website (click here).
The new features of PB 12.6 are mainly focused on PowerBuilder Classic. Highlights include: support for OData; 64 bit compilation (note that the IDE is still 32 bit); and Dockable Windows. Due to the limited new feature list, speculation in the PB Community is that SAP decided not to release PB 15 as this would be an embarrassment after nearly 4 years since PB 12.5 was released.
SAP currently has no solid road-map for PB 15 and the last update for this was in 2011. So it is unclear where SAP will take PB in the future - especially given PB.Net`s lackluster adoption in the market place.
The only real bright spot in the PB community is the Appeon Web and Appeon Mobile products produced by Appeon Corporation. These products support PowerBuilder versions 8 through now 12.6. In the highly wanted modernization arena, Appeon certainly delivers the future now for the PB developer.
Regards ... Chris
The problem is that 4 years is a LONG, LONG wait...
ReplyDeleteSadly, I believe that many of us (PB Developers) have already moved away :(
SAP committed for 8 years support on PB15.
ReplyDeleteDoes this still stand for 12.6?
A great question about SAP's support for PB! With this being basically a maintenance release to 12.5 - I suspect that the support clock is ticking from that date.
ReplyDeleteBrett Weaver commented on this aspect on LinkedIn this past week. By his calculation the support clock would run out in 2018.
The problem for SAP is that there is little financial return to develop and enhance a language such as PB. Borland could not support Delphi and sold it to Embarcadero and Delphi continues to decline. PB is at the end of the road as there is no financial justification to put gas in it.
ReplyDeleteYes, getting SAP or even Sybase before to listen what real PB developers wanted in the product put the product on its current demizing path. They just keep building features they "think" PB developers wanted versus what they needed to move their users & applications forward!
ReplyDeleteAppeon - is unfortunately too expensive for small companies ...
ReplyDeleteI tried to raise the problem - but nothing to do -- also too sad...
Georgios
Agreed - I saw Appeon at the NC PowerBuilder conference and was quite interested in it, until I saw the price. Not an option for a small company with one PB developer. Bummer!
ReplyDeleteAll our PB apps are now in maintenance mode and there are no new PB developments whatsoever. After working many years with Oracle, I am going to take a training class in MS Azure and web services, after being trained in BizTalk. A consultant even came in and told the management that SAP has a problem with Oracle and thus PB is gonna wayside....
ReplyDeleteGreat news Chris! I mean ... at least 'any news' is better than no news. We all see clearly how PB is being choked to death by SAP, I even know of companies - moving from powerbuilder to SAP - not wanting to continue their actual applications in pb 12 to "SAP-pb'. As said by others, no one will start to develop anything in PB for being too expensive and too impossible to find experienced developers. Way to go SAP. I've never liked SAP but now I know why.
ReplyDeleteregards,
Miguel L.
Hi Miguel;
ReplyDeleteThat's also pretty much the same view of the SAP situation from most of the Canadian Federal government as well.
I get to participate on a lot of software evaluations for my government clients and I can tell you now - I'm never going to recommend SAP.
Regards ... Chris
It' s not ever 12.6 it's EBF 12.5000001.
ReplyDeleteI also call 12.6 GA - Beta #2 - its full of issues IMHO. Sure makes you wonder if SAP releases all their products in a poorly untested state. If so, its a wonder people buy this crap! :-(
DeleteWhen SAP bought Sybase it was not because they wanted PowerBuilder, this product for them is just not a profitable option but was part of the package. Unfortunately SAP seems reluctant to give any official stand on this products longer term ambitions and rather hide behind the corporate image of not committing to endorse the product. Maybe they are hoping that customers will read between the lines and move their applications to other environments so they can just switch off the lights quielty!
ReplyDeleteI made a web query to SAP this month (Nov '15) about Appeon (not knowing it was a separate company selling it) but couldn't find anyone who'd heard of Appeon. Eventually some nut from Dublin phoned saying he was an account executive and didn't want his time wasted talking about the many tools he sold none of which it appears he was familiar with...
ReplyDeleteWow .. that is sad Roland! :-(
DeleteIn the mean time though, its full speed ahead for Appeon taking over PB ...
http://www.appeon.com/form/form.php?mid=20